


The Gang is Back Together

by Mae01



Series: Marauders Modern AU [18]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Humor, Established Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, F/F, F/M, Family Dinners, Family Drama, Family Reunions, Fanfiction, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Funny, Gay Remus Lupin, Gen, M/M, Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Mental Health Issues, Modern Marauders (Harry Potter), Past Relationship(s), Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Spongebob Voice: The Gang's All Here, Swearing, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29853291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mae01/pseuds/Mae01
Summary: 11 years after they were discharged from the mental hospital, Frank, Marlene, Dorcas and Remus run into each other during a Pride Festival.“James, Sirius, Lily and Harry?” Remus said with a tearful smile on his face. “Meet my gang. This is Frank Longbottom and these are Marlene and Dorcas McKinnons.”“This is your gang?!” James, Sirius and Lily cried out in confusion.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, Frank Longbottom & Remus Lupin, Frank Longbottom & Remus Lupin & Marlene McKinnon & Dorcas Meadowes, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Remus Lupin & Dorcas Meadowes, Remus Lupin & James Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & Marlene McKinnon, Remus Lupin & Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Harry Potter & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Marauders Modern AU [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138295
Comments: 1
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a stand-alone work. There are other stories in the universe, but you do not need to read other stories to understand this one. HOWEVER: the whole story of the gang can be found in chapter 9 of Scout's Honour for more details of their antics and friendship.
> 
> I do not own any Harry Potter characters all characters belong to JK Rowling.

**Frank Longbottom**

“I’m so glad we were able to unpack quickly enough to watch the parade,” Alice Longbottom said to her husband Frank.

“Me too,” Frank said with a smile.

Frank and Alice Longbottom had just moved back to the UK after eight years in California. After Frank graduated high school, he moved to California where his girlfriend had moved the year before they were supposed to graduate. After receiving an offer to be a chief officer back in the England area, the Longbottoms made the decision to move back. They packed up their home and their three-year-old son, Neville, and moved in time to be there for the PRIDE festival of the city they were moving to. Neither Alice nor Frank were a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but they both loved the community and did what they could to support them. They would always make sure to attend at least one parade each June, whether in California or somewhere else. This year they were able to celebrate in their new city.

“Do you miss them?” Alice asks quietly to her husband.

“I do every year,” Frank responded with a smile. “They were the people who helped me see the good in life again.”

“Do you think you’ll see them again?”

“I hope so. The last time I saw Dorcas and Marlene was when they were released and the last time I saw Remus was when I was released. I don’t know if I would recognize them but I would love to see them again.”

The family stood by the street and smiled, laughed and talked with the people around them. Pride month was a time Frank would talk more about his friends from the mental hospital than other times of the year. He would remember how spontaneously Remus came out to him, Marlene talking about how she came to the realization she was a lesbian and Dorcas’ raging bisexual energy (her words, not his). Alice had hoped to one day meet the people Frank would tell stories about but so far they hadn’t crossed paths with them.

“Dad?”

“Yes, Neville?”

“Can you tell the story again?”

“Which one?”

“The one when you talked about what you would do if you met them again?”

Frank laughed at the words of his son who was sitting on his shoulder. Frank had never been quiet about his time in the mental hospital with his family. He remembered how ashamed his family acted when he was admitted and he didn’t want his family to ever feel the same way. Frank hoped it would never happen, but he wanted Neville to know that it was okay if he ever needed to be admitted to a mental hospital. He didn’t want his son to feel the shame he felt from his family for needing more help. Stories were shared often and there was no hesitation on Franks part to share memories unless it had to do with the personal problems of Marlene, Dorcas or Remus. The stories were told so often that Neville started calling them auntie Marlene, auntie Dorcas and uncle Remus. Neither of his parents had the heart to correct him so that’s what Neville would call them. 

“We promised each other that we would start a fight,” Frank said with a tender smile on his face. “We told each other that we would start swearing up a storm and that we would cause a scene to confuse anyone we were with.”

“Would mummy and I be confused?”

“Not at all, son. I’ve told you all about them so you’ll know right away it’s them. Dorcas told me that if she ever sees me that she will tell me to ‘go fuck myself,’ so if someone randomly says that then I guess I will know it’s her.”

The Longbottom family walked down the street, taking breaks to pause and chat with people. They had about 20 minutes before the parade was going to start.

“Mummy?”

“Yes, love?”

“Can we get something to drink soon?”

“Of course, my dear. How about-”

Before Alice could finish her sentence, a loud shout came from behind the family.

**Marlene and Dorcas McKinnon**

It was after they both graduated when they ran into each other again. Somehow both Marlene and Dorcas signed up for the same summer abroad trip to Italy and were placed as roommates.

(Flashback)

“Alright!” The group leader called to the young adults. “The other half of our group had already arrived and they are settled into the rooms. You will all be partnered with one for your safety and so your roommate is already waiting in the room. Line up and I will give you your room key and itinerary for the week. You have the rest of the day to get to know the person you’ll be staying with for the summer and we will meet tomorrow at breakfast!”

Dorcas stood in line and waited for her turn to receive her key and itinerary.

“Dorcas Meadowes?”

“That’s me,” Dorcas replied to the guide.

“Perfect! You are in room number 26 with Marlene. We will see you tomorrow!”

_ Wouldn’t it be funny if it was Marlene McKinnon?  _ Dorcas thought to herself as she made her way into the hotel. She hadn’t forgotten about Frank, Remus and Marlene. On the contrary, she thought about them often. She did miss them and never found friends as accepting as them. That was part of the reason she signed up for this summer trip. She needed to get away from the UK and the people there. 

As Dorcas arrived at the room, she slid her key in and opened the door. When she walked in, she saw the recognizable face of her old roommate. Standing frozen at the door, Marlene broke the silence.

“Please,” she whispered quietly. “Please tell me you’re who I think you are...”

“Marlene,” Dorcas replied quietly. “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”

The two girls ran towards each other and embraced each other in a tight hug with tears falling down their faces.

“Oh my gosh,” Dorcas cried into her roommate’s shoulder. “I thought I would never see you again, but you’re here!”

“I’m here,” Marlene cried back. “I’m here and I missed you so much!”

(flashback over)

  
  


Throughout that summer, Dorcas and Marlene grew closer than they were when they were in the hospital together. They spent every minute together and eventually started dating. At the end of the summer, they both decided to stay on as staff for the travel abroad group. They spent three years in Italy before being transferred to Melbourne, Australia for the next four years. 

During their second year in Italy, Marlene proposed to Dorcas and they got married three months later. It was a short engagement period but they didn’t have many people they wanted there except for their coworkers. They enjoyed a small and personal wedding. The only thing they wished they could have changed was trying harder to contact Frank and Remus to have them join as the best men. Marlene and Dorcas had missed their friends and wished they could see them again. They had tried to find them on Facebook and Instagram but they could never find them so they eventually gave up.

After seven years of being away from the UK, Marlene and Dorcas McKinnon wanted to move back. After talking with the directors of their travel abroad company, they were given permission to work as speakers in England and the surrounding areas to promote travelling abroad with their company. 

They had finally settled in their new home in time for the Pride festival in one of the cities near them to take place. It was supposedly one of the best festivals in the area and they remember attending (separately) when they were in high school. As they walked down the streets, Marlene was pulled to a complete stop when her wife stopped walking.

“Love?” Marlene asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I think...” Dorcas was staring down the street and Marlene couldn’t figure out what she was looking at.

“What’s going on?” Marlene started to panic when she saw tears fill Dorcas’ eyes.

“Do you see that little boy with the rainbow pinwheel?”

“I do...”

“And do you see the man holding his hand?”

“Yes,” Marlene said, glancing back and forth between the man and the child. “What are you going on about?”

“It’s Frank,” Dorcas said, finally allowing a tear to fall down her cheek.

“Babe, you better not be fucking joking or-”

“Come on!” Dorcas laughed, pulling his wife along beside her.

When they were behind the family, they could hear the voice that was recognizably Frank Longbottom’s.

Without thinking about the child, Dorcas yelled at one of the best people she had the honour of getting to know with a big smile on her face.

“Hey, Frank,” Dorcas called. “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”

Frank dropped his son’s hand and quickly turned on his heel, praying it was who he had been missing for the past 11 years. As he turned to look at the person who called him, he took a step back in shock. There, right in front of him were two of his best friends from 11 years ago.

“Damn,” Marlene said with tears in her eyes. “I guess we finally managed to get you to shut up.”

Frank let out a loud laugh before pulling Marlene and Dorcas into a tight hug.

“Holy fuck,” Frank said, tears also falling down his face. “I was literally just talking about you guys!”

The group stood in the middle of the sidewalk, hugging the life out of each other and crying.

“Oh, Frank,” Dorcas said, pulling away from the hug. “I told you that you would know it was me by how I would greet you.” Looking away from Frank, Dorcas smiled at the lady and child next to them. “Hi, my name is Dorcas.”

“Hello, Dorcas,” the lady said with a smile. “My name is Alice Longbottom and this is my son Neville Longbottom. Frank has told us so much about you.”

“Mum?” Neville said quietly, pulling on his mom’s dress.

“Yes, love?”

“Are these auntie Dorcas and auntie Marlene?”

Dorcas and Marlene froze in their spots as they heard what Neville referred to them as. As they looked at Frank in confusion, Frank only laughed before explaining.

“I’ve told Neville and Alice all about you two and Remus. It got to the point where he started referring to you all as his aunts and uncle and it had a nice ring to it so we left it.” Frank laughed at them as he saw smiles fall on their lips and tears spring to their eyes again before he realized he was missing something.

It was Marlene and Dorcas’ turn to laugh as they watched Frank look between them, their entwined hands and the wedding rings on their hands.

“Wait...” Frank said, looking like he had won a million dollars. “Did you… are you...”

“We got married five years ago,” Marlene said with a smile. “Frank, I would like to personally introduce you to Dorcas McKinnon, my wife.”

“Remus and I called it! We fucking called it!”

“You did,” Dorcas said with a laugh.

“What did my dad call?” Neville asked, moving closer to Dorcas.

In response, Dorcas crouched down and spoke to him with a soft voice.

“Your daddy and uncle Remus said that if auntie Marlene and I met outside of the hospital that we would have been the perfect couple.”

“And you’re married now?”

“We are,” Dorcas said with a smile.

“Can you carry me? I’m tired and we are going to get something to drink. You can come with us!”

Dorcas let out a laugh before standing up and placing her nephew on her hip.

“Man,” Frank said with a laugh. “I guess you guys are coming with us!” Turning to his wife, he continued talking. “Babe? Have you found a good coffee shop or something that we can stop at?”

“Not yet,” she responded with a smile. “Give me a couple of minutes.” She shot Dorcas a smile as she watched her son lean his head on her shoulder.

“Could you imagine if we ran into Remus?” Marlene laughed.

“How much do you want to bet that he is still best friends with his honourary sister? What was her name again?” Dorcas asked.

“Lily,” Frank said with a laugh.

“Wait,” Alice said as she looked between the three friends. “Lily? Remus had a friend named Lily?”

“Um, yeah?” Frank responded in confusion. “Why do you ask?”

“What was Remus’ last name?”

“Lupin. Remus Lupin,” Marlene said, her tone filled with confusion.

“Oh my gosh,” Alice said through laughter. “Holy crap!”

“Alice?” Frank asked in confusion. “Is everything okay?”

Alice shook her head in disbelief and amusement. Holding up a hand to stop their questions, Alice started typing into her phone and started laughing harder.

“Okay, okay,” she finally managed to say. “I knew a Remus Lupin in school who was best friends with a girl named Lily!”

“What?!” The three friends yelled. 

“Here,” she said as she passed the phone to them. “Is that him?”

“Holy fuck,” Frank breathed out in awe.

“Holy shit,” Marlene said in laughter.

“Damn,” Dorcas said with a large smile on her face.

“I’ve kept in contact with Lily every so often,” Alice said with a smile. “We haven’t talked in a while but last I heard they own one of the best coffee shops in the district.”

“Wait,” Dorcas said as she shifted Neville onto her other hip. “You mean… Remus is here? Remus is in the city?”

Alice nodded and felt herself tear up at the looks of her husband and his friends.

“Will he still be Remus Lupin? Would he remember us?” Marlene asked quietly.

“I can answer part of that for you,” Alice said, putting her phone back in her pocket. “He is now Remus Lupin-Black and he got married last year.”

“Our boy is all grown up?” Dorcas said with a huge smile on her face.

“He took care of himself,” Frank whispered.

“Do you guys want to see him? They work just around the corner,” Alice said quietly.

“I really do,” Marlene said with a smile. “I can’t wait to tell him that luck was on his side.”

“I can’t wait to tell him to go fuck himself,” Dorcas said as she handed Neville back to Alice. “I hold you later, bud. I need my arms to talk with while I yell at him.”

“I can’t wait to start a fight with him,” Frank said. Turning to his wife, Frank continued. ”You are okay if we miss the parade part of the festival?” 

“This would probably be the best time to go,” Alice responded. “The coffee shop will probably be more empty because of the parade.”

“Okay then,” Frank said. “Lead us to our boy.”

**Remus Lupin-Black**

  
  


Remus was working behind the bar making the drinks with his husband as James and Lily were working as cashiers. Mrs McGonagall was sitting at one of the tables with Harry helping him colour a rainbow. The Order had been busy most of the day but it had hit a slow patch and so Sirius and Remus were making some drinks for the six family members. The parade was going to start soon so the family was going to have their ‘break’ and sit down for a bit before the next wave came.

Whenever the Pride festival was scheduled to happen in their city, the Marauders would all work that day. They would paint the windows with LGBTQ+ flags, make rainbow desserts to serve and work together as a family. McGonagall would join them and sit with Harry while the parents and uncles worked. It was a day they enjoyed and they loved seeing the different couples and people who would come in to write messages on their chalkboard wall.

While McGonagall was sitting at one of the tables with Harry, she glanced out the window and saw three people she thought she would never see again. Standing outside of The Order was Remus’ old gang. Making eye contact with Frank, she sent a small smile towards him which earned her a small smile back. As soon as Frank smiled at her, his eyes turned back to staring at an oblivious Remus.

“Hey, Rem?” Lily said, her tone filled with confusion and slight worry.

“Yeah, Lil’s?” Remus responded, not turning away from his spot behind the counter.

“Moony,” James said with just as much concern as his wife. “There are some people staring at you...”

“What are you talking about?” Remus replied as he finished making the drink he was working on.

“Love, they aren’t kidding,” Sirius said. “They look really mad.”

Finally turning away from his work, Remus looked across the shop and out the window to see his old gang. His family was too busy whispering about what to do to see the small smile fall on Remus’ face before he put on a mask of anger and moved from behind the counter at the same time as Frank, Marlene and Dorcas stormed in.

Knowing what was happening and knowing that Remus’ family had no idea, McGonagall hid her smile and watched the scene unfold before her.

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Remus yelled as he walked away from the counter.

“Remus!” Lily exclaimed in worry, having never seen her brother his mad before.

James and Sirius rushed to try to stop Remus from possibly committing murder but stopped dead in their tracks at the glare they received from their Moony.

“We got word that you were here,” Frank said with a cruel smile. “How could we pass up the opportunity of seeing itty bitty little Remus?”

“I told you to never fucking come near me again!”

“Oh, poor little Remus,” Marlene said in a baby voice. “We don’t take orders from the baby.”

“You mean you don’t anymore,” Remus said with a laugh. “You took orders from me until you all left me to die alone is that place!”

“Remus,” Sirius said, finally snapping out of his shock to walk towards his husband. “What-”

“Oh my!” Dorcas said as she laughed hysterically. “Did you find someone new to give orders to? That is precious!”

Everyone in the store was oblivious to Alice and Neville walking in the side door and sitting down next to McGonagall and Harry.

“Hello, dear,” McGonagall said quietly to Alice. “I assure you are now Frank’s wife? It has been quite a few years since I last saw you.”

“You as well,” Alice replied quietly. Both women turned their attention back to the entertaining scene before them. James and Sirius looked confused and terribly worried, Lily looked scared and the four friends looked like they were going to murder each other. Alice and McGonagall were trying hard to hide their smiles at the acting of the old gang.

“Leave my family out of it!” Remus yelled harshly.

Frank locked eyes with Lily before letting out a loud laugh.

“And that,” Frank started in a teasing voice. “Must be none other than Lily.”

“It totally is!” Marlene laughed.

“I told you to leave Lily out of this!” Remus said, walking closer to the three friends in front of him.

“Remus, how do they know about Lily?” James called. “Who are these people?!”

“Has our dear Remus not told you about us?” Dorcas said with a pout. “Well do you want to know how that makes me feel?”

“Why don’t you just go fuck yourself, Dorcas! I don’t give a damn about how that makes you feel!”

“Remus!” Lily cried. She had never heard her friend sound so vicious before and it scared her. Who were these people and what happened to make them so hostile to each other?

“Leave my wife out of this, Remus!” Marlene shouted back. As soon as the words left her mouth the coffee shop became dead silent. The silence remained for five seconds before the group ran at each other.

“Remus!” James, Lily and Sirius cried in different levels of distress and confusion. Their confusion only grew as the group of four people embraced each other into a tight group hug in the middle of The Order.

“Holy fuck,” Remus cried into his friends’ shoulders.

“Go fuck yourself, Rem,” Dorcas said with a laugh.

The group stayed hugging each other until Sirius broke the moment.

“Remus...” Sirius said as he stared at the group in front of him. “What the fuck just happened?”

Remus pulled away from his gang and smiled at all of them before ignoring his husband and started talking to Marlene and Dorcas.

“Did you guys seriously get married?”

“We did,” Marlene said, kissing Remus on the cheek. “Five years ago. We tried to find and contact you guys but it obviously didn’t work out.”

“Moony? Care to explain what the fuck just happened?” James asked as he walked closer to the group. He still wasn’t sure if the group would murder each other or not.

“I’m sorry I missed it,” Remus said with a sad smile.

“I guess we all missed each others’ weddings,” Frank said with a laugh.

McGonagall knew that the group had forgotten that there were other people in the room so she stood up from her chair and approached the group.

“Hello, dears,” she said with a smile.

“Hey. Minerva,” the group said happily as they embraced her in a hug as well.

“What the fuck is happening?!” Lily cried out in frustration. This finally got Remus’ attention and he turned around to his family and laughed at the looks on their faces.

“Remus!” Lily yelled in frustration at his laughter. “Tell us what is going on!”

“Did you actually not tell them?” Marlene said with a raised eyebrow.

“This outcome would have been much more boring if I told them. I wanted to keep you guys for myself for a little while.”

“For 11 years, you mean?” Dorcas laughed.

“Pretty much,” Remus said, shaking his head in amusement. Turning towards his family, he finally started to explain. 

“That is Sirius who became my husband last year,” Remus said pointing to him.

“Lily who you have already heard everything about and she married James,” Remus explained, pointing to the couple. “They had Harry James Potter almost three years ago.”

“And you’ve already met Minerva.”

“James, Sirius, Lily and Harry?” Remus said with a tearful smile on his face. “Meet my gang. This is Frank Longbottom and these are Marlene and Dorcas McKinnons.”

“This is your gang?!” James, Sirius and Lily cried out in confusion.

“This is them,” Remus said with a smile. “These were the people who helped me cause uprisings against the nurses and helped me sneak off to get us lattes for bingo nights.”

James, Sirius and Lily stared at the group in confusion before they noticed a familiar lady stand up with a child on her hip.

“I would recognize that face anywhere,” Remus said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Alice?”

“Remus,” Frank said as he pulled his wife into his side. “Meet my wife Alice Longbottom.”

“Tell him your kid’s name!” Marlene cried with excitement.

“Remus-”

“Uncle Remus!” Neville yelled, stretching his arms towards Remus.

Without hesitation, Remus reached out and took Neville, placing him on his hip before shooting Frank and Alice a look of confusion.

“Uncle Remus?” He asked, tears quickly filling his eyes.

“I talked a lot about you guys,” Frank explained. “At some point, Neville started to refer to you all as his aunts and uncles and we just rolled with it. Neville loves hearing stories about his auntie Marlene, auntie Dorcas and uncle Remus. There is one thing I haven’t told you yet.”

“What more can you dump on me, Frank? Please tell me you didn’t bring Umbitch along...”

“No, no,” Frank laughed. “Definitely not that. I guess I should formally introduce you to your nephew, that’ll make it easier.” Placing a hand on Remus’ shoulder, Frank continued. “Remus Lupin-Black, meet your nephew Neville Remus Longbottom. He’s named after the bravest man I ever met.”

“Come join us for dinner tonight,” Sirius told the group with a smile. “The rest of Remus’ family should be there with us.”


	2. Chapter 2

“He looks so happy,” Lily whispered to James and Sirius as they stood in the kitchen of the Lupin-Black household watching the former gang talk and laugh in the living room. “I almost don’t want to tell them supper is ready yet.”

“I know,” Sirius said with a smile. “It looks like he really missed them.”

“Do you think he thought about them more often than he let on?” James asked quietly.

“I think so,” Lily replied. “Well, I guess we better get them to the table. They can continue catching up and eventually tell us what happened this afternoon in The Order.”

“Remus, love?” Sirius called out as he walked into the living room. “Supper is ready. Come join us, you all must be starving.”

“Thank you, Sirius,” Marlene said with a smile. 

The group stood up and made their way to the table, Alice and Lily getting Harry and Neville from the playroom.

As they started dishing up, Lily asked the question she and her boys had been thinking about all afternoon.

“Remus?”

“Yes, Lil’s?”

“Can you and your gang explain to us what happened this afternoon?”

“Oooh,” Dorcas cried out in excitement. “Can I tell them?”

“Go for it,” the three friends laughed.

“So I’m assuming that you all know we weren’t allowed to keep in touch with each other when we left so it was up to fate-”

“Luck,” Frank, Marlene and Remus interrupted.

“Sorry, it was left up to Remus’ luck if we would all see each other again.”

“Why his luck?” James asked politely.

“Because Remus is, or was a downer in the ward,” Frank said with an eye roll. “When Marls was being discharged and Rem and I were saying goodbye she said that if fate was on our side that we would see each other again.”

“But this fucker you know and love,” Marlene continued. “Told us that he didn’t have a fate but he had escaped death twice so maybe his luck would work and we would meet each other again.”

“I forgot how morbid you were,” Lily said with an eye roll.

“He really was a morbid child,” McGonagall commented in agreement.

“Continue the story, Dorcas,” Remus laughed. “Enough about me being morbid.”

“Okay okay,” Dorcas laughed with a smile. “So it was up to luck that we would see each other again. We had talked about hoping we would see each other again over the weeks and we hoped that it would happen. We started to talk about what we would do and say if we saw each other on the street however many years down the road.” Dorcas turned and smiled at her wife, grabbing her hand before continuing. “We all agreed that we would just start fighting and yelling at each other to confuse anyone we were with if they didn’t know the story.”

“Dorcas and I met and were assigned to be roommates on the same summer abroad program and we didn’t follow through with that.”

“Why not?” McGonagall asked.

“We were both too thrown off at seeing each other,” Marlene said with a laugh. “We just stared at each other and when I pleaded at this girl who walked into the room to tell me she was who I thought she was-”

“I told her to go fuck herself,” Dorcas finished. “I was the one of our group who told the others to go fuck themselves the most and I said that it would be the first thing I told them if I saw them in the street.”

“And then they got married and ended up moving back to the UK seven years later,” Frank finished. “When I said goodbye to Dorcas when she was leaving she told me that the first thing she would ever say to me if she saw me in the streets was-”

“Hey, Frank, why don’t you go fuck yourself,” Dorcas interrupted with a smile. “And that’s exactly what I said when I saw him this afternoon.”

“They started swearing at each other but they didn’t fight,” Alice added. 

“No,” Marlene said with a small frown. “We didn’t but we were so thrown off. Then Neville asked us if we wanted to go get something to drink with them.”

“I asked Alice if she had found a place yet on her phone but she said she needed a moment to find one. While we were waiting we brought up Remus,” Frank recalled. “The girls asked if I thought he would still be in contact with his honourary sister,” he said as he smiled at Lily.

“You told them about me?” Lily asked her brother in confusion.

“He never stopped,” Marlene assured her. “He talked about you a lot and never failed to mention how you saved him so many times. We have you to thank for saving our boy but we can do that later.”

“When I said your name,” Frank continued. “Alice stopped what she was doing and started drilling us with questions about Remus’ last name and your name.”

“That’s when I realized that I knew who they were talking about,” Alice finished. “I pulled up The Order’s website and showed a picture of Remus and asked if that was who they were talking about because I remembered you two almost never leaving each others’ side. When they said it was I told them that we were around the corner from where you all worked.”

“And then they stood outside the window and waited for Remus to realize who they were,” McGonagall added. “Frank smiled at me and I immediately knew that Remus’ gang was back. While you all were busy staring out the window, Remus sent me a quick smile before starting to swear up a storm.”

“As soon as I saw them,” Remus continued with a smile. “I knew who they were. Marls made a joke about us not recognizing her if she had purple hair and I had to stop myself from laughing at the fact her hair is actually purple.”

“She dyes it purple every June,” Dorcas commented as she ran her fingers through her wife’s hair.

“It suits her,” Remus said with a smile. “But I saw them and I immediately knew that they were going to start a fight. It worked pretty well, I mean I was the only one with people who didn’t know but, man, it was perfect.”

“We thought you guys were going to kill each other,” James said as he looked between the four friends. “And then you brought up Lily by name and I was very confused about what Remus had gotten us into.”

“Oh, man,” Frank said with a laugh. “Lily was someone we all thank when we talked about-” Frank stopped in the middle of his sentence and shot Remus, Marlene and Dorcas a look.

“They all know,” Remus said with a tight smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

“When we would talk about Greyback and Remus,” Dorcas said in a soft and unusually quiet voice. “We all silently thanked Lily for being with Remus during it. Remus would tell us about the whole ‘slim it’ and ‘good that’ scheme that you came up with and we were all silently jealous.”

“We were never jealous of what he went through,” Marlene clarified. “We were jealous that he had someone he was going to go back to once he was released that would be there for him.”

“None of us had as good of support as Remus did,” Frank quietly muttered. “None of us talked to our families much after our attempts but whenever Minerva or Grams and Gramps would come in to visit with Remus, they would say hello to us as well. Man, we couldn’t imagine the support he had but we all made it. We talked about you a lot, Lily,” Frank said, shooting her a smile. “It was almost like we knew you personally. You helped our boy and I mean he’s still here and he’s good. You helped him and even though we didn’t know him as long as any of you we talked about how we all held each other and Remus specifically in a special place in our heart.”

James, Sirius and Lily all looked back and forth between the old gang. They didn’t have any words to say but they never thought that the gang was such a big part of Remus as they were witnessing. They knew he talked about them occasionally but they never realized how much they had helped him or how much they cared. The friendship between the four friends seemed more important now than they had ever thought it would be. When James, Lily and Sirius talked about it, they assumed that if Remus ever met the gang on the street then it would be a hello and goodbye 10 minutes later. Yet here was the gang at the kitchen table after five hours of first reconnecting.

“You keep saying ‘our boy,’” James asked in confusion when he finally found the words to talk. “What does that mean?”

“I was the baby,” Remus answered, rolling his eyes. "It became a tradition and they passed on the role when they each left."

“I left first,” Dorcas said in response. “I turned to Marls and told her to ‘take care of our boy for me’ and then I left.”

“When I was discharged next,” Marlene picked up. “After saying goodbye I turned to Frank and told him to ‘take care of our boy for me’ and then I walked out of the doors.”

“I left next,” Frank said with a small smile. “Remus was about to be the last one of us. I’ve actually thought about what I said a lot.”

“I remember what you said as well,” Remus added quietly. “It helped me a lot over the years.”

“The whole thing?” Frank asked in surprise.

“The whole thing,” Remus confirmed with a nod. “You told me to fall back on Lily if I needed to.”

“I did,” Frank smiled. “I told you to fall back on her and then I had to leave.”

“How did you pass it on?” Marlene questioned.

“I gave him a hug before I passed it on. With my hand on his shoulder, I told him what I believe he needed to hear. I said ‘No one else is left, so you take care of yourself for our group. You’re our baby boy so take care of yourself like we would.’”

“And I did,” Remus said with a tearful smile. “I took care of myself as you guys would and I fell back on Lily many times.”

“Rem?”

“Yes, Lily?”

“Did you have anyone to say goodbye to you?”

The members at the table all turned to stare at Remus, waiting for his answer.

“You had no one to say goodbye to you, did you?” Marlene, Dorcas and Frank asked simultaneously.

“Umbitch offered to say goodbye?” Remus said with a smile that looked more like a grimace.

“Goodbye or good riddance?” Marlene muttered under her breath.

“I was an angel!”

“You corrupted us!” The group cried out in objection.

“Wait, hold on,” Sirius said shaking his head. “First off, Remus, answer the question about saying goodbye and then we need to talk about Remus being the corruption. We have always thought you all corrupted Remus.”

“Okay, fine. I said goodbye to myself and pretended that Marls, Dorcas and Frank were there to say goodbye. I’m pretty sure the nurses would have kept me longer if I continued to stand by myself so I made it quick before leaving.”

“What did your imaginary versions of us say?”

“Marlene said ‘good luck on the outside world,’ Franks said to ‘remember to go fuck myself’ and Dorcas told me to take care of myself as you guys would. I promised myself I wouldn’t let you all down and somehow I made it 11 more years.”

“I felt bad about leaving you alone,” Frank admitted quietly. “I knew you would be okay but I still felt bad.”

“I was okay,” Remus reassured him with a smile. “You didn’t have to lose any more in Uno.”

“Fuck, man,” Frank laughed. “I couldn’t believe you beat me so bad.”

“You were quite bad at Uno, Frank,” Marlene said with a laugh. “Remus never had a problem with beating you.”

“Frank is still bad at Uno,” Alice added in laughter.

“Way to push a man down, thanks, guys!” Frank said with an eye roll.

“Why don’t we move to the living room?” Lily asked politely. “I’m sure the couches and chairs would be more comfortable.”

As the group stood up and started moving rooms, Sirius pulled his husband aside for a moment.

“Moons?”

“Pads, I’m sorry for not having any warning about-”

“Moons, my love,” Sirius softly whispered, kissing his husband on the cheek. “It’s okay, I’m not mad or anything. I was the one who invited them over, remember?”

“I know, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I just wanted to ask how you’re feeling? Not too run down right now? If you need me to make an excuse so you can catch a breather or something, just let me know. We can invite them over again.”

“I’m honestly really good right now, love,” Remus answered with a big smile. After leaning down to kiss his partner’s lips, he put a hand on Sirius’ cheek and continued. “Thank you for inviting them. I’ve missed them.”

“We know, don’t worry. Let’s go join the group.”

As Remus and Sirius walked into the living room and sat in the available seats, they joined in on the conversations.

“Marls and I actually just moved into London this week. We are back for the foreseeable future so hopefully, we will be able to get to know you all better,” Dorcas said, answering Lily’s previous question.

“And Frank and I also moved this week back here after the past eight years in California,” Alice replied after Dorcas.

“Wait,” Remus said as he held up a hand to stop anyone else from asking anything. “You are all living close to here now? This isn’t just a trip for any of you?”

“Remus, man,” Frank said with a loud laugh. “We are all here for a while.”

“Holy fuck, man-”

“Hold on!” Lily yelled as she looked back and forth between Remus and Frank. “Did you lie to me, Remus?!”

“Uh, about what?...”

“Is Frank how you picked up saying ‘man’ so much after the hospital?! You told me you would say ‘man’ because the nurses hated swearing! You said that you started saying 'man' to avoid cursing!”

“Remus? Stopping swearing?” Marlene laughed in confusion. “Oh no, Remus never stopped swearing!”

“Marlene is right,” Frank added. “Remus got our dessert privileges taken away at least once a week because of swearing.”

“So Remus corrupted you all?” James questioned, referring to the topic that they lightly touched earlier.

“Oh, yes! Marls, Frank and I were angels before Remus showed up! He corrupted us even though he was the baby.”

“But… But he’s so innocent!” James cried in confusion. Sure, maybe Remus wasn’t innocent but he was the most responsible in the Marauders.

“Oh no, he was the worst of us,” Dorcas laughed. “I mean, don’t get us wrong, we love him dearly but he was the one who brought out the trouble in us. He was the brains behind all of our antics.”

“Uncle Remus?” Neville asked quietly from his spot in his uncle’s lap.

“Yes, Nev?”

“Can you and auntie Marlene and Auntie Dorcas and Daddy tell us stories?”

“Oooh! Yes! Storytime with Moony!” James exclaimed in excitement. “He never tells us stories unless we bribe him!”

“Why haven’t you told them much about us?” Dorcas asked in a teasing but a curious voice. 

“I told you guys, I wanted to keep you to myself for a little while longer. I was worried that if I talked about you guys more then I would miss you more than I already did.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Marlene said with a small smile. “Any stories we can’t tell?” She asked as she turned to address the full gang.

The three remaining members all shook their heads before Remus started.

“How about we take turns in a circle telling a story? I can start and just interrupt if there’s a question?” After receiving approval from his gang, he started a story. “I remember for the first two weeks we would say ‘mood’ or ‘I wish that was me’ whenever a code blue sounded throughout the hospital.”

“Code clue?” James asked.

“That means that someone’s heart stopped or they stopped breathing,” Remus replied. “We would be able to hear anything said on the intercom so when a code blue was announced we would just say we wish that was us. Mainly as a joke but we eventually stopped because a nurse almost heard us and we didn’t want to be stuck there forever.”

“You were so morbid, Moons,” Sirius muttered to his partner.

“It’s all a part of my charm,” he replied with an eye roll.

“I remember all of the gay jokes Remus would make,” Frank said with a laugh.

“I didn’t say them all the time!”

“No, but you did say them when we least expected them. Do you remember how you came out to me?”

“I don’t think I could ever forget,” Remus groaned.

“What did Rem do?”

“We were sitting down for breakfast on his first morning in the ward. He arrived the day before and we were placed as roommates. We were talking-”

“And swearing,” Dorcas added. “That was when Marlene and I decided we were going to hang out with you two. You got yelled at by the nurses three times before 8:30 am for your language.”

“Okay okay,” Frank continued. “We were talking and swearing, just getting to know each other. Remus told me he wished he had gotten out of finals as well because I attempted during finals and I missed half of them. So I asked him and this was how we first heard about Lily.”

“You hadn’t seen me for less than 24 hours and you were already talking about me?”

“Of course I was. You were the reason why I waited until school was over.”

“Exactly,” Frank laughed. “So I asked Remus if you were his girlfriend or if he ever had feelings for you and his exact response was ‘Not at all! I’m also way too gay to want to date her.’”

“Remus!” The Marauders cried out in amusement. 

“I was being honest!”

“He thought I was going to murder him or request a room change but I didn’t and we continued to be friends. Another time he caught me off guard was when I was being discharged. I asked him if he was coming out the following week and his reply was that he already came out the year before.”

“I took the opportunity that I saw!”

“I remember the first time we saw Remus’ genuine smile,” Dorcas began but was quickly interrupted by Remus.

“Are we just talking about me? Is this storytime about Remus?”

“Yes, now let me continue. We were given permission to sit outside in the fenced area for a couple of hours. As we were laying there, Umbitch yelled at us to come in and that Remus had a visitor.” She sent McGonagall a fond smile before continuing. “As we were making our way to the doors, Remus stopped dead in his tracks and we got worried about who it was. When we asked him, he gave the biggest and cutest smile and said ‘that’s Mrs McGonagall.’”

“And then he ran and ditched us,” Marlene finished.

“I was his first visitor,” McGonagall continued. “It was the first real smile I had seen him wear in almost three months.”

“Well,” Remus muttered uncomfortably. “It’s not my fault I was struggling.”

“You’re right,” McGonagall agreed. “It wasn’t your fault but it almost made me cry seeing you wear a genuine smile.”

“You also offered to fuck up Umbitch for us, didn’t you?” Marlene said with a smirk.

“She was picking on one of my favourite kids! I would have done it too if Remus let me.”

“I remember when you were finally given your day pass,” Marlene commented as she shook her head at the memory. “We all agreed right away that you were going to hang out with Lily and probably hang out at the coffee shop.”

“And we were right,” Dorcas laughed. “We never expected that you would end up owning it though.”

“My, dears,” McGonagall said, breaking the laughter in the room and standing up. “As much as I have enjoyed this day I must get going.”

“Thank you for joining us, Minerva,” Remus said, standing to give his mother-figure a hug.

“Thank you for letting me,” she replied. Turning to the old gang, she gave them smiles and addressed them. “It was lovely seeing you all again. I’m glad Remus has you all back. I remember sitting and talking with him and encouraging him that if he let James and Sirius into his life that maybe he would have a new gang.”

“Were you ready for the school to burn down or were you missing seeing Remus’ antics?” Marlene asked, hugging the lady.

“Both. Remus never got caught though, he still had it.”

“Wait,” Lily paused, finally coming to a conclusion. “Minerva! You knew about Frank, Marlene and Dorcas before any of us and you knew them by name?!”

“I did,” she smiled in response. “Remus would talk about them a lot to me and he would come to me every year in July to talk about them.”

“I missed them,” Remus said with a smile. “But we are back together now. I guess luck was on my side.”

As the old gang embraced each other in a group hug, they promised each other to meet up soon.

“Promise we will see each other soon?” Dorcas asked quietly into the hug.

“We solemnly swear,” the group responded.

As they pulled away from the hug, they smiled at each other before making their final goodbyes.

“Enjoy the freedom,” Remus whispered.

“Don’t forget us,” Marlene added with a smile.

“And don’t forget to go fuck yourself,” Frank said with a smirk.

“Sirius, Lily and James?” Dorcas called without looking away from Remus. “Continue to take care of our boy for us.”

**Author's Note:**

> Both stories 'Scout's Honour' and 'Never Have I Ever...' contain mention of The Gang.


End file.
